"Wow! Awesome costumes!"
the girl that had been called to as Melody shouted.
"Yeah!" Japjoea agreed.
Both started to applaud and soon everyone in the room followed suit.
"Well...congratulations,"
Bruce said as he and Angela handed Emilia and Jack their prizes.
"Thank you," Emilia said.
"Um..sorry about all this. We didn't want to..you know."
"Yeah, so don't be mad at
the kids, okay?" Jack pleaded, glancing to where Laina and Bryan were.
"Don't worry. They aren't
in trouble," Angela assured him with a grin.
Later that night and after they had said goodbye to Stephen,
Stuart, and Verne, the group sat and ate pizza in
Jack and Emilia's room.
"This is awesome!" Jack
said, his mouth half full.
"Sorry about the costume
contest," Bryan apologized to Bruce and Angela. "But someone dressed as
Ephiny
dragged them away they got the chance to say anything."
"It's alright," Angela said.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The actors, teenagers, Jack, and
Emilia
glanced at one another.
"Who is it?" Bryan yelled
out.
"Byran? Laina? Are you in
here?" Bryan and Laina groaned, recognizing their mother's voice.
Bruce and Laina went to the door. "Hi Mom," she
greeted.
"What are you doing in here?
With people you don't even know?"
"Mom, this is Bruce Campbell,"
she stressed the name. "Bryan and I are spending time with Bruce and Angela
and
Ted, you know, the actors we're here to see? We're helping them with
their concert and comedy show. We'll meet you
down there," she said shutting the door. "That was close!"
Bryan nodded. "Funny how Mom always manages to show
up at the worst time."
"Parents are like that,"
Ted grinned.
Bruce chuckled. "No kidding.Okay, we've got an hour
before we have to get ready. You wanted to show us your short
film?" he said, looking at Laina.
She grinned. Her dream was finally coming true!
Then she felt embarassed again. This was Bruce she was showing it to! He
would never find her ten minute film any good, not after all of the
stuff that he had worked on! After a moment, Laina explained
that her short film was actually a piece of a longer screenplay that
she had been working on for the past five months. She put the
tape in the VCR they had been able to procure and watched a short piece
of Song of the Siren. For ten minutes the actors, Emilia,
Jack, and the teenagers watched two scenes, one in which a man threatened
the main characters with a restraining order and the next
where a plan fell apart.
When it was over, Laina looked at Bruce, Angela, and Ted.
They had confused expressions and Laina felt her heart drop. Back to
the drawing board, she thought. Glancing at Emilia, Jack, and
her brother, she found encouraging smiles.
"Well," Bruce
coughed after a moment. "That was--"
"Pathetic?"
Laina supplied.
"I was actually
going to say interesting. You may have something there, kid. Keep working
on it."
"Definitely
keep working on it," Ted said with a grin. Angela nodded her agreement.
"Now, if you'll
excuse us, we need to get ready. If you want, maybe you four would like
to go down and wait until the show starts?"
"Now?" Bryan
asked. "What are we supposed to do for the next forty-five minutes or so?"
"I'm sure you'll
think of something," Bruce said.
A few minutes later, Laina, Jack, Emilia, and Bryan
were downstairs in the lobby. "Well, except for the very expensive restaurant,
the
only other place we could go is the gift shop," Laina suggested."Or
we could just sit here in the lobby."
"I wouldn't mind looking in the
gift shop," Bryan clasped his hands together.
"You just want to get your
hands on a PlayBoy magazine or something," Laina muttered.
"Hey, I'm going, Squirt.
You can come along if you want." Bryan stood and headed down the hall towards
the shop. Laina glanced at
Emilia and Jack.
"Hey, whatever you want
to do," Jack said.
Laina sighed. She'd never been really good at coming up
with ideas for things to do.
"Excuse me," someone had
come up behind their small group. Jack and Emilia glanced up and saw a
tall man with beady brown eyes and
short hay colored hair. "I was wondering if you might be able to help
me with something?"
Laina had not looked up yet but she knew she had heard
that voice before.
"What?" she heard Emilia
ask.
"The orb."
Laina finally looked up and her face paled. "Oh my lord!"
she gasped.
The man grinned. "Thought you at least would recognize
me," he said to Laina.
Jack and Emilia looked at the teenager. "Who is he, Laina?"
Jack asked.
"John Bly," Laina replied,
starting to get to her feet.
"Nah-ah," Bly shook his
head, drawing something out from his overcoat. It was his colt revolver
and he lowered it between Emilia
and Jack, making it completely invisible to anyone else who did not
know what was going on. "Just sit back down, Laina, unless of course
you want to see these two dead."
Laina gulped and, shaking like a leaf, reluctantly obeyed.
A sudden burst of noise behind him made Bly turn his head. A
woman ws going into labor and was being ushered out to a waiting car.
Bly turned back around. In the split second that his back had been
turned, Jack had disappeared. The others were in the exact same
positions as before. "Where'd the other one go?" he demanded.
"Don't know!" Laina said
in a scared tone.
Emilia looked around, hoping that the Daring Drgoon was on his
way. "Don't do anything stupid, Jack.." she murmured.
Seconds later, the Dragoon appeared. "Drop your weapon!"
"Who the hell are you?"
Bly demanded.
"Your worst nightmare, pal!"
Jack started to attack as Bly, in one swift fluid motion, pulled his gun
up, aimed at the Dragoon's
heart and fired two shots. The Dragoon fell to the floor.
"No!" Laina climbed over her seat
and dropped to the Dragoon's side. Bly prevented Emilia from joining her.
All around them people screamed and tried to get out of the
lobby. Two security guards showed up as Bruce, Angela, and Ted
came down the stairs.
"What's going on?" Bruce demanded.
"Stay back!" a guard called over his
shoulder, his gun drawn and pointed at Bly.
"Bruce, look!" Ted pointed.
Bruce looked and for the first time in a while, he was completely
speechless. He blinked rapidly, thinking that it was just a hallucination,
but when he opened his eyes again, Bly was still there, holding on
to Emilia and Laina was kneeling beside Jack who was dressed as the
Dragoon. "Looks like they weren't kidding about Brisco," he muttered
after a moment.
"Throw down your weapon!" the other
guard ordered Bly.
Bly held Emilia closer. "I don't think so, gentlemen. Now, if
you do not want to see the lady harmed, you will step aside."
The two guards glanced at one another. After a moment they stepped
back, yet kept their guns trained on Bly. Thinking he had won, Bly
started to leave, dragging Emilia with him.
"Now, that is no way to ask a
lady out!" Bly turned partway and found the Dragoon standing behind him.
Before Jack could make his
move, Bly shoved Emilia at him and ran down the hall, past the gift
shop, and out of the hotel.
"Call the police and tell them
we've got an armed and dangerous man lose on the streets!" one of the security
guards yelled at the
concierge. Then he and his partner approached Jack and Emilia. "Are
you okay, ma'am?"
"Yes, I guess," Emilia answered.
"Good. Well, you let us know if
there's anything we can do for you. As for you," the man glared at Jack.
"What the hell were you
thinking?! You could have gotten this woman killed! Damned caped buffoon,"
he muttered.
"He was only trying to help!"
Laina jumped to Jack's defense.
"Maybe so, but he shouldn't be
doing any foolish heroics."
The guard's words burned Jack's ears. Had he been wrong
trying to keep Bly from taking Emilia or Laina? Every fiber in his body
said
no, he had not been wrong, but the way the guards looked at him contemptuously....
"Hey, don't be so hard on the
guy," the other guard said after a minute. "He did save the lady, after
all. Come on. We've got paperwork
to do and then we have to get backup for the show," he said, glancing
at the actors. His partner nodded, and the two security guards left.
The people still in the lobby slowly trickled out, heading
off to do whatever they had planned before the fiasco. Bruce, Angela, and
Ted
came over to where Laina, Emilia, and Jack stood.
"You did good, Jack," Bruce said
after a moment.
"Almost like you would have done
it had this been an episode?" Jack asked, still smarting a bit from the
guard's words.
Before anyone could say anything to comfort him, Bryan
came running into the lobby. "Laina! Are you okay? I heard gunfire!"
"I'm fine, Bryan. Guess who you
just missed?"
"Who?"
"John Bly," Bruce and Laina said
at the same time.
"Bly?"
"Yeah, John Bly. What a psychopath!"
"Jack just saved their lives,"
Bruce said in a shocked, yet approving tone. He really meant it when he
told Jack he had done well.
"Hey wait! Didn't Bly shoot you
twice?" Laina finally remembered.
"Yeah. Emilia made me bullet proof.
Or at least my cape!"
"Oh. Like 'The Mornin'
After,'" she said.
Jack was thinking hard. He had to track down this
Bly person. Nobody almost kills Emilia and gets away with it! After a moment
everyone--except for Angela who was going to check on a few things
before the show--returned to Jack and Emilia's room. For a
long time no one said anything. Jack and Emilia were sitting on the
edge of one of the beds, Bryan and Laina were seated on the
other and Bruce and Ted were sitting in the two chairs at the table
near the window.
"Jack, I never did thank you for
saving my life," Emilia said and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Jack smiled. "That bullet-proofing you gave my cape
sure helped out, again."
"Yes, well, I'm concerned about
that Jack. Remember, I told you that it can take only so much wear and
tear. It's taken quite a
beating. I don't know...but I think the bullet repulsion formula has
worn off."
"You're kidding, right?" Jack
asked. Emilia shook her head. "Great. Well, I'm still gonna get that shipwrecked
sonofaditchdigger!"
He sighed. Before he could do anything, they needed a plan.
Emilia looked at Jack. "You remember when Brisco came
to Pulau Pulau?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Brisco described a man named
Bly that looked exactly like the Bly we just met downstairs."
"Right," said Jack. "Didn't Brisco
also mention an orb? Something about it having mystical powers?"
"Yes, but he never fully explained
them. At least not that I can remember."
"I'll bet that orb can send us
back home!" Jack said after a moment.
"That's assuming that the orb
is here somewhere," Bruce said.
"Has to be if Bly's looking for
it," Laina grumbled.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Who are you and
what do you want?" Jack called out.
"It's Angela!" Bruce rose and
opened the door a little, peering out to make sure. Angela pushed the door
open, hitting
Bruce in the nose. "Sorry about that," she said, although she did not
sound apologetic at all.
"How are things downstairs?" Bryan
asked.
"Crazy,"Angela replied. "Your
mother was worried about you two. I told her that you were fine and should
be in your room in five
minutes?" Looking at Bruce and Ted she said, "And because of what just
happened, the show has been pushed back another thirty
minutes." Ted and Bruce groaned.
"But what about Bly?" Laina asked.
"He's no longer your concern,"
Bruce said. "From this moment on, your services are no longer required."
Laina could not believe it. "But-"
"Come on, Laina," Bryan said,
taking her by the arm and pulling her out of the room.
Once they were gone, Jack, Emilia, and Angela looked at Bruce.
"Now what?"
"This bites!" Laina huffed as she
and Bryan walked down the hall to their room."They're going to need our
help!"
"Sure, Laina. What can we do?"
Bryan scoffed as they reached the door. Reaching into his pocket, Bryan
pulled out his keycard and
opened the door.
"Oh no!" Laina rushed in with
Bryan close behind. The two teenagers could not believe their eyes: their
things were strewn all over the
room, Laina's video and papers were mangled. "Who could have done this?"
Bryan was about to say he didn't know when something beside
the mirror caught his eye. Going over to the dresser, he picked up a piece
of folded paper. He read what it said. "Laina, look!" He held out the
paper to her.
Laina went over to him and took it. She read its contents.
"Damn him!" she swore.
"So, what do we do now?"
"What do you think? Come on!" Laina
grabbed her brother's hand and together they headed back to Jack and Emilia's
room.
"They're not going to want to see us,"
Bryan told her.
"Too bad," Laina growled as she pounded
on the door.
"Who is it?" she heard Jack or Bruce
call.
"Laina and Bryan! Please let us in."
"Kid, we don't need your help."
"You might not, but we need yours,"
Laina retorted. A long moment passed and the door remained shut. Just when
Laina was about to
leave, the door cracked open. Laina pushed through, catching Jack in
the nose.
"Oww!" Jack grimaced.
"Sorry," Laina apologized.
"So, what do you need our help for?"
Bruce asked.
Laina handed Bruce the note Bryan found and Jack, Emilia, and
Angela crowded around him to read it. It did not take long for them to
finish.
"We'll get your mother back,"
Jack swore.
"Definitely!" Emilia agreed.
"How?" Bruce said. "Bly could
have her almost anywhere."
"He probably wouldn't take her
too far, considering he thinks that we'd be able to help him find the orb,"
Emilia reasoned, remembering how
Bly had wanted them to help him earlier.
"True, but the last time anyone
would have seen the orb would have been 'Bye Bly,' one of the last Brisco
episodes--that is if you buy the
fact that this is real, which I'm not sure yet if I do," Bruce said.
"Meaning that Katrina would have taken
the orb back to her own time," Laina put in, ignoring the actor's last
remark.
"Hey, we're not figments of your imagination!"
Jack exclaimed as Laina finished.
"Let me just check," Bruce went over
to Jack and pinched his arm.
"Oww! What'd you do that for?"
"To make sure I wasn't dreaming."
"I think you're supposed to pinch yourself,"
Jack grumbled.
"Yeah, but I thought doing it to you
would be more fun!"
"You better watch it!"
"Oh yeah, tough guy? What are you gonna
do? Wave your cape at me?"
"And have you behave more bull headed
then you've already been, Bruce?" Angela stepped between the two men. "We've
already determined
that this isn't a dream, and that somehow Jack, Emilia, and Bly ended
up in our time. And considering that they have been seen by almost everyone
in this hotel.."
"You're right Ang. Sorry, Jack,"
Bruce apologized after a moment.
"No problem."
"Well, now that you've made up,
I think it is time we put our heads together and came up with something,"
Angela suggested.
* *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* *
She attended the New York convention, knowing that
something very strange was going to happen. And she was the only one who
knew where
they could find the one thing that would return them to their own time--eventually.
Well,
two things, actually,she corrected herself, running her
hand over the chain of her necklace, off which a green pendant hung.
She supposed she could go ahead and give them the one thing she had to
get Jack and Emilia home, but there was still Bly to deal with..and
she felt that she would need both spies along with the teens and actors
to defeat
him.
Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning
she saw a man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. She noticed that he
had colored red hair
and mustache. "So what do you think, Kat?" he asked.
"You definitely look like you
lost your luggage, Brisco," Katrina laughed.
"What can I say? You apparently
have yet to create an orb that can make a portal that can handle carry-through
bags."
"I'll make a note of that. I think
we'd better let them know of our existence," she said after a moment.
"I was thinking the same as I
was doing this," Brisco pointed to his hair. "It was a good suggestion
you had, watching those old..er whatever
episodes of Hercules. But don't you think I look a little too
much like Bruce's Robert Tapert?"
"Not with that Groucho mustache,
you don't!"
"Good. Well, it's time to let
them know we're here!" Brisco and Katrina arrived on the same floor and
looked at all of the doors.
"Well, which one, Mr. World Class
Tracker?"
He ignored her remark. Glancing at end of the doors,
he noticed only one had the little "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob.
"This one," he
said and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" came Bruce's
voice.
"A friend," Katrina said.
"Don't you mean a fan?"
they heard Bruce mutter.
"You think everyone in this
hotel is a fan of yours?" another voice scoffed.
"Hello?" Katrina interrupted
the beginning of an argument.
"Maybe you better let me
handle this," Brisco said, getting ready to ram the door.
"We don't need any broken
doors, Brisco."
"Yeah, but they're not going
to open it!" he retorted just as the door opened, revealing Laina.
"Oh. My. God!" the teenager's
eyes widened.
"Laina, what is it?"
Laina opened the door all the way, revealing a woman who
was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes, and a man who--underneath
the Hawaiian shirt, jeans, boots, and reddish hair--looked like Jack
and Bruce.
"Oh, don't tell me
you're here too!" Jack groaned, recognizing Brisco.
"I don't believe this!"
Bruce said at the same time.
"Well, there's a welcome
I wasn't expecting," Brisco grumbled as he and Katrina stepped into the
room. "How'd you recognize me?"
"As if you even have
to ask," Katrina nudged him.
Bruce was, to say the least, a little shocked at this
new twist. "What's next?" he thought aloud. "Autolycus, Ash, Virgil from
McHale's
Navy,
maybe my character from Lois and Clark..." He groaned at the
thought of every character that he had ever played suddenly showing up.
"Can we get down to
business?" Brisco asked.
"Let's hope so," Bryan
muttered. He moved to the floor, allowing Katrina to have his chair. She
smiled at him. Brisco took a seat next to
Jack, who eventually ended up next to Bruce once the actor sat back
down. Laina still stood at the door in shock.
"Come on, Laina,"
Emilia assisted the girl over to where they were gathered.
"This is too weird,"
Angela commented after a moment, staring at the three men.
Ted nodded. "Isn't it great?" he said enthusiastically.
He was rewarded with stern, unhappy glares. "Sorry. So, Brisco, how did
you and--?"
"Katrina," Brisco
supplied.
"Yeah. How did
you two get here?"
"How do you
think?" Bruce snapped as Jack, Katrina, and Brisco said "The orb."
"I also have
this," Katrina said, pointing to her necklace.
"Is that what
I think it is?" Bryan asked, leaning over to get a closer look. Laina was
still staring off into oblivion.
"Yes. The Chronos
Stone."
"How did you
get it?"
"We had to go
back to 1979 and borrow it from a friend," Katrina explained. "We just
have to give it back soon, so history may play
out correctly."
"So, you're
saying you came here from 1979?" Bruce asked. "Groovy."
"You know,
I think that saying was dead then," Brisco commented.
"Actually,
it's still used sometimes," Bruce retorted.
"Only
in your Evil Dead movies," Bryan quipped.
Bruce glanced at Ted for support. "He has
a point," Ted said after a moment.
"Okay,
Mr. It-took-twelve-hours!"
"How long
are you going to keep reminding me of that?" Ted groaned.
"Oh, forever."
The two men suddenly realized how quiet it had gotten. "Sorry, just talking
about--"
"Bruce, I don't
think any of us really want to know," Angela said. "I think we need to
get to work and figure out just how we are going to
find Bly, get Jack and Emilia back to their own time, and find Laina
and Bryan's mother."
Bruce glanced at his wristwatch. It was almost
time for the comedy and concert. He sighed. "You're right, Angie. Unfortunately
we're going to
have to break this up because it's time for the show. When the show
is over we'll come back and rehash this."
"If you all
don't mine, Brisco and I will remain here with Jack and Emilia," Katrina
said.
"Hey! I wanted to
go see the show," Jack pouted.
"Sorry Jack, you're
needed here," Brisco said.
"Fine!" Emilia, Brisco,
and Katrina rolled their eyes.
Bruce nodded. "All right. We'll see you after the
show." The stars left then, with Bryan and Laina trailing them.
"Okay, let's think
about this logiacally," Katrina began once they were gone. "This city is
extremely large. Bly will most likely remain here
because it wil be harder to find him. Unfortunately, in this day and
age, he'll be almost impossible to find. We have to lure him out of hiding."
"How?" Jack asked.
Brisco picked up on Kat's idea. "Bly kidknapped
that woman, Mary, and is using her as to get the orb. All we have to do
is make him think
that we have the orb and then once he comes, and he will, we spring
our trap."
"But we don't have
the orb!" Emilia pointed out.
"Bly doesn't know
that," Brisco said.
"I know, but it seems
rather foolish to me to pretend that we have something when we don't and
another person's life is hanging in the
balance."
"If you have another
idea Emilia, we'd love to hear it." Emilia did not.
The four time travellers continued to come up with and
hypothesize plans, but none of the ones they came up with after the first
seemed to
work for all four. They continued talking until Bruce, Angela, Ted,
Laina, and Bryan returned. Nobody realized how much time had passed
and were startled to see everyone return.
"Honey, we're home!"
Bruce called out, laughing hysterically. The show had gone great, and the
whole group was still shaking with
laughter. "Man, they sure got a kick out of the Amazing Svengarlic
routine you did Ted!"
"It only worked because
you and Angela were helping. Although I would prefer that maybe you stop
using me as an example of a
bad actor? Use Rob once maybe."
Bruce chuckled. "Okay Ted. I'll see about that and
I'll be sure to let him know it was your idea."
When the group settled down a bit, Brisco explained
what they had come up with. Ted, like Emilia, pointed out that they did
not have
an orb.
"That's where
your brother Sam comes in," Brisco said slyly. "Give him a call and see
if he can get his hands on the prop from the
series Bruce starred in."
"Okay,
give me a minute," Ted replied ducking into the bathroom for some peace
and quiet while he talked to his brother.
Twenty minutes later he emerged, a triumphant
smile on his face. "Sam's getting it tomorrow night. He told the company
that he might be
able to use it when he films Spiderman. All we have to do is
wait until 10pm tomorrow." Seeing the looks on the kids' faces, he added,
"Yeah
I know, waiting is really hard, especially since it won't be until
Monday before Bly will even get wind of us having the orb."
Bruce lay stretched out on the bed.
"Alright, great job Ted. In the meantime, the Sunday convention is tomorrow
and it's now," he looked at
the digital clock, "1:13 in the morning."
Everyone turned in, each going back
or remaining in their rooms. Laina and Bryan offered to share their room
with Katrina and Brisco since
the two did not have anywhere else to stay.
"Besides, Laina'll get scared if there isn't a responsible adult around,"
Bryan teased. If looks could kill, he would have been a pile of
charred ashes from the burning glare Laina shot him.
"Better sleep with one eye open, bro," she growled after a moment.
"Come along, children," Brisco grinned and ushered Laina out while Katrina
followed with Bryan.
"Who're you kidding, Squirt? You'll be asleep as soon as your head hits
the pillow!"
Bryan and Laina continued their bantering
down the hall until they reached their room.
She awakened with a start. Outside their room, the
rain fell, raindrops pelting against the window. But it was not the rain
that had disturbed
her. Slowly, she looked around. She saw Bryan and Brisco sleeping on
the floor near the air conditioning unit and the window. Laina was in the
bed closest to them. Turning her head, she saw Katrina sleeping peacefully.
Everything seemed to be in order, but Laina still
felt the hairs on her neck and arms rise. Suddenly she heard a shuffling
noise between her bed
and Katrina's. Lightning flashed and Laina looked towards the dresser
where the TV was and saw Bly looking right at her.
"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEGGGGGHH!!!!" she screamed. Bly bolted out of the room
just as Brisco, Bryan, and Katrina were jerked
from their slumber. Brisco saw the look on Laina's face and immediately
took off.
"What is it?" Bryan growled, rubbing his head. He had been sleeping with
his head beneath the table with the complimentary breakfast menu
and ashtray laying on top.
"Bly was just in here!" Laina blurted as Katrina hugged her, trying to
calm the teenager down.
"What? Why would he come here again?" Bryan was confused. Brisco returned
then, out of breath. Katrina, Laina, and Bryan looked at him.
"It was Bly," Brisco nodded. "Almost had him, but lost him as he ran out
of the hotel and ducked in to some alley." He looked at Laina. "Are
you all right?"
"Yeah.
I'll be fine, but I won't be going back to sleep any time soon," she grumbled.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was 3:30.
"You should
try to get some more rest, Laina," Katrina said gently. "Would you feel
better if I stayed here next to you until you fell asleep?"
Laina nodded. "All right then. Let's get you tucked in," Katrina pulled
the covers over Laina as she settled back down. Then she sat on the edge
of
the bed and gently rubbed Laina's side and stroked her hair. After
a few minutes, Brisco and Bryan heard Katrina start to hum.
"That's something Mom used to sing to us when we were little," Bryan reflected
sleepily. "Still has the same effect on me."
"Good," Brisco said. "Now go to sleep."
Meanwhile, Bruce had awakened from the next room by Laina's
screams. Calling the next room, he quickly spoke with Brisco. The two met
in
the hallway and spoke quietly for a few minutes. Frowning at this new
development, Bruce shuffled sleepily back to his room, concerned for the
well
being of the two teenagers.
The next morning, everyone met in Jack and Emilia's
room for breakfast. Thankfully, the rest of the night had passed without
incident. Brisco and
the rest of the crew related the one Bly sighting that night to a concerned
group. Ted stared wide-eyed and troubled. He couldn't wait to see Sam that
night so that they could get the fake orb and free Mary.
After breakfast, they began to make their way down the
stairs to the convention. On the way down, they ran in to Sam Raimi.
"Hey Ted!
Bruce! Angela!" he smiled.
"Hey Sam!"
they all said, greeting him.
"So, do you...you know?" Ted asked, his voice low.
"Yes, its..." he began, but got stopped as a group of fans caught sight
of him.
"It's Sam Raimi!" the girl named Melody cried out.
"He's totally cool!" said the one called Deadly Chakram. "I can't believe
that they got him to come speak at the convention."
"What? He's speaking too?"
"Yeah, I was talking to one of the security guards and he said that...."
Ted turned the attention back to their own group. "You're
speaking?"
"Yeah, it's the only way that I could get down here early was to say that
I am speaking, so that's how that happened."
Bruce nodded. "Okay, let's get the show on the road.
But first," he pulled the group to a private corner, "allow me to introduce
the real Jack Stiles
and Emilia Rothschild."
Sam stared wide-eyed, unable to speak.
"And Brisco County Jr. and Katrina," Ted nodded to the other two time travelers.
"And the kids are Laina and Bryan."
"I see," Sam nodded. "And it's your mom that's in trouble?" The two teens
nodded.
"Hey! We're about to start!" one of the security guards came up to the
group and informed them.
"Who's on first?" Laina asked.
"What?" Emilia asked.
"No, What's on second!" Bryan said.
"Who?" that was Jack.
"Who's on first," Ted supplied.
"Hey, knock it off! This isn't Abbot and Costello!" Bruce grumbled. "Like
they would know who they are!"
"Well, I'm on last," Sam told everyone. "I think Angela and Bruce are first,
and then Ted, and then me."
"How long is this going to take?" Jack asked after a moment.
"At least a few hours," Laina said. "Guess we better go take our seats,"
she added, looking at her brother.
"See you afterwards," Angela said.
"What about us?" Emilia asked. "Where should we go?"
The three actors and film director looked at one another.
"I suppose you could see if there are extra seats in the back," Ted said
after a moment.
"We'll keep an eye on them," Bryan offered, ignoring the I-can-take-care-of-myself
looks from Jack.
"Okay, great," Sam said.
"Yeah, great that you have two teenagers babysitting us four adults," Brisco
laughed. "All right, let's go."
The teens and the time travellers found plenty of seats.
They sat down, and waited for the convention to begin. It began with the
Music
Salute to Jack, followed by Hercules and Xena Bloopers. Finally, Bruce
stepped onto the stage.
Hours later, the convention was still going strong. The
addition of Sam had caused quite an extension and the crowd was loving
it. The
room pratically exploded when he came out to speak. Soon, speakers
were through was over and the autograph lines formed.
"Wait
for us upstairs," Bruce whispered to Bryan when he and Laina reached the
autograph table.
"Okay,"
he nodded.
"Move
along!" the security guard said gruffly.
Laina rolled her eyes, almost the way Emilia did it.
An hour and a half later (and several empty cartons of
order-out Chinese food), the group sat perfecting their plan. As a precaution
against
another visit from Bly, Brisco and Katrina only would stay in the one
room. Laina, Bryan and Sam would stay in Jack and Emilia's room.
Laina was estatic about being able to talk with
Sam. Sam explained that he had stored the fake orb away, and that all they
needed to do was
to somehow have Bly overhear a conversation between them saying that
they had the real one. All they needed was a way how to accomplish this.
But there was still one thing bothering Laina. She knew that Brisco
and Katrina had arrived using an orb, and more than likely one that was
part
of a trinity way more advanced than the one presented in the TV show
and that actually existed at that time. But if that was so, how had Bly
gotten
here? And it seemed that Jack and Emilia had just gotten caught in
the whirlwind.
"Is something
on your mind, Laina?" Jack asked.
"Huh?"
Laina looked over at where Jack, Emilia, Sam, and Bryan were in the middle
of playing a game of poker.
Everyone had turned in for the night, but
no one could really sleep--at least in their room.
"You're
frowning, sis," Bryan said without looking up from his hand.
"Oh. Well,
I was just thinking. Bly is asking for the orb--why? I mean, somehow he
got here, right? And I don't know why he brought you
two here or if he even intended to--"
"I think the
receding bump on my head proves it was intentional," Jack interrupted.
"Or maybe he
was just trying to get something you had and he needed it for whatever
and you two just startled him and he just reacted."
For a moment everyone in the room thought about what Laina said.
"What could
Jack and Emilia possibly have that Bly would want?" Sam asked finally.
Laina shrugged. "Who knows? Wait a second!
You two said that Brisco ended up in your time before," she looked at Emilia
and Jack.
"Yeah, so?"
Jack asked.
"Maybe there's
a reason why Brisco has wound up meeting you a few times. Plus, it's rather
odd that you look exactly alike, scar and all,"
Laina reasoned aloud. "Maybe the orb was first discovered in 1801?"
"Or maybe..."
Sam thought a moment before continuing. "Bly wants Brisco dead right, since
he's hunting him down to avenge his father.
Stop looking at me like that, I watched the series too! Jack,
Brisco, and Bruce are completely identical in appearance. That is a fact
too great to
be ignored. What if they are all from the same line? That way, if Bly
eliminates Jack, then Brisco can't be born." Everyone waited for him to
continue.
"Okay, so he doesn't kill Jack in the past, and somehow they end up
in the future. But that is good for Bly because he knows that a fight using
twenty-first century technology will put Brisco at a disavantage. Once
he secures the orb, he kills Jack, thus killing Brisco. When he returns
back to
the past, he still has the orb but won't have to deal with Brisco.
And if he succeeds, Bruce won't be born, I lose a good friend, the
Evil
Dead movies
never get made, and in short all of history gets changed with him controlling
it."
"Well, if that's
true, why didn't he go all the way back, maybe to Autolycus and kill him?"
Jack put in, thoughtfully.
"Knowing Autolycus,
he probably had several children that he didn't know about, making it impossible
for Bly to pinpoint exactly which line
Brisco came from, so kill the closest descendent before him--you."
"Gee thanks!" Jack
said sarcastically.
"That's why you're
the filmmaker," Laina said in awe. "You've got unlimited vision!"
"Okay, great. So we
have a motivation," Bryan said. "But we still don't now how Bly got here.
We know Brisco and Kat have the Cronos Stone,
or at least, part of it. Which confuses me beacause I though it only
worked when whole."
"I must admit that I'm at
a loss to explain that one as of yet," Sam answered. "But I'm working on
it!"
"You know, maybe we should
ask Brisco if he knows anything," Emilia said after a moment. "After all,
he is the residential expert on the orb."
Sam, Jack, Bryan, and Laina looked at one another. "She does
have a point," Jack concurred.
"All right. We'll talk to
Brisco," Sam nodded and glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning.
"I think we should probably get some sleep."
"So who's in the beds and
who's on the floor?" Jack said.
"I've got this bed!" Laina declared
patting the mattress she was sitting on.
"No fair! You had a bed last night!"
Bryan stated.
"All right. Ladies in the beds.
Guys, looks like we're roughing it," Sam shrugged. Bryan groaned. "Just
think of it as camping out."
"Without the Evil Dead," Laina
quipped.
"Klaatu Verata Nikto," Bryan muttered.
Thankfully the night passed without any intrusions. Once
everyone was up they met Bruce, Angela, Ted, Brisco, and Katrina in the
hotel restaurant.
Laina brought up the conversation her room was having the night before
and asked Brisco to tell them what he knew about the orb.
Brisco looked at Jack and Emilia. "You two couldn't
remember anything I told you about it? And I'm surprised you guys don't
remember," he added,
looking at Laina, Bryan, Bruce, Ted, and Sam.
"Hey, TNT isn't showing
it that much anymore and when they do, it's at six in the morning.!" Laina
shrugged.
"TNT?"
"A television network,"
Bruce explained. "They ran the series for a while..didn't get paid a dime
for the extra airing."
"Anyway, I remember most
of what happened on the show, just not all," Laina said quickly.
"Fine. There were three
orbs; one was found while building a railroad. Another Bly got from somebody
else, at least that is what Professor
Wickwire told me. Then there was the third that I took from myself
to return to where I was supposed to have my final stand off with Bly,"
Brisco
explained.
"You took an orb from yourself?"
Bryan asked.
"He never really watched
the show," Laina said apologetically.
"That's fine. I still don't
understand it sometimes myself," Brisco shrugged.
"Just where are we in your
timeline, Brisco?" Angela asked after a moment. "You're here with her,
and I'm assuming that you are somewhere
between getting the orb and returning to your final stand off with
this Bly."
Everyone looked at Brisco. Brisco and Katrina glanced
at one another. "Actually, he's had his final showdown with Bly and it
did not go the way
it was written in the series," Katrina said.
"Of all the places truth
could meet fiction!" Laina muttered. "So, what did happen?"